Liz Cheney thoroughly undeserving of any honor

As President Joe Biden teeters and shuffles off to a way-too-delayed life of assisted living at Rehoboth Beach, he seems determined to diminish his already Lilliputian “legacy.” On Thursday, he awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to the reptilian Liz Cheney, ruining forever the honor of that award to any past or future recipient (“Biden honoring Liz Cheney with Presidential Citizens Medal, report says,” Jan. 2).

Vice President Kamala Harris made more than a few boneheaded mistakes during her ill-fated campaign, but lusting for the endorsement of former U.S. Rep. Cheney, as well as Cheney’s terrible father, and actually campaigning with the Wyoming political pariah was particularly stupid. Now, Biden has bestowed the nation’s “second highest civilian medal” on Cheney. Was Stormy Daniels not available?

I believe I can safely predict that the incoming President Donald Trump will make sure that U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green and, perhaps, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert will be awarded a Presidents Citizens Medal to act as an antidote to Cheney’s “honor” and to help permanently render the medal as worthless as Yasser Arafat made the Nobel Peace Prize when he was handed it in 1994.

— Jon Ketzner, Cumberland

Nation badly needs a better-informed electorate

As Inauguration Day approaches, I am still heartbroken that nearly 50% of our electorate voted for a failed businessman and amoral grifter for president (“Trump to rally in DC ahead of inauguration,” Jan. 2). I am heartened that contrary to the claims of a “mandate” by many of Donald Trump’s loyalists, the final result of the popular vote was 49.9% for Trump and 48.4% for Vice President Kamala Harris. The exact margin of 1.47% is among the closest in history.

I write today to express my concern that we are inundated by “alternative facts” that are shaping our future. Leading the charge is Fox “News.” Every news source makes mistakes, especially when events are unfolding. In the early days of TV news, even Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and others of that era made mistakes. The difference was that when the truth emerged, they corrected the record.

Today, we have a leading network that was fined $787.5 million for spreading lies about Dominion Voting Systems. Executives even admitted that “certain claims about Dominion were false.” Since then, they have continued their dissemination of false information, perhaps with more fervor.

A case in point occurred just the other night. Hours after other sources had verified that the New Orleans terrorist was an American veteran born and raised in Texas, I turned to Fox to get their “spin” on this event. For over an hour of reporting, I watched the moderator repeatedly reference “immigration,” “the border” and even “Mexicans” in a pitiful attempt to blame this tragedy on President Joe Biden.

Make no mistake, Fox is certainly more entertaining than my other sources. Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson make for some pretty dry reading. On television, many historians, economists and Constitutional scholars can be upstaged by sensationalists like retired beauty queens and a WWE fighter whose words must frequently be censored.

But is this where we are as a nation? Is this how we choose to become knowledgeable voters? Granted, social media gives ample opportunity to spread misinformation and outright lies. But when a perceived mainstream network does it, the deception is much more widespread and becomes part of the dialogue.

I urge all voters to seek multiple sources. Listen to scientists, historians and economists where appropriate. It’s time to go back to the days when “news” meant substantiated, fact-checked information. Armed with facts, I have no doubt that we will return to electing qualified leaders of both political parties, perhaps as soon as 2026.

— Corynne B. Courpas, Westminster